Shillong collects Rs 75 cr on Day 1; Tura branch runs out of new currency
SHILLONG/NONGSTOIN/TURA: The city branch of State Bank of India collected approximately Rs 75 crore on Thursday, the first day of denomination exchange after the government scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Higher officials at SBI informed The Shillong Times that around 8,000-9,000 people in the city exchanged their notes while 4,000-5,000 deposited money in their accounts.
Officials also said the new Rs 2,000 note would be available in all ATMs across the state in the next seven to eight days even as officials informed that necessary configuration for the new note is going on in the teller machines.
Though many ATMs were opened in the city on Friday, they were reported to be non-functional. However, officials informed that most of the ATMs which are directly linked by SBI were working in Shillong on Friday and that all the machines, including those which are managed by private partners, will be fully function by Saturday afternoon.
SBI has said it would pay customers old Rs 100 notes at its branches in Tura from Saturday morning as Friday was a holiday because of Wangala Festival. With no new shipment of fresh currency notes from the Reserve Bank of India in Guwahati, SBI has sought the central bank’s permission to use the non-issuable Rs 100 notes which are currently in its possession.
“We have received permission from RBI allowing us to use the non-issuable notes. Since the ATMs cannot be filled with these notes it will be paid only from the cash counters of our banks,” said the assistant general manager of SBI in Garo Hills. SBI Tura currently has over Rs 2 crore worth non-issuable Rs 100 notes.
Meanwhile, only a small consignment of the new Rs 2,000 notes has arrived in Tura which the banks are disbursing to customers.
“We are expecting to run most of our ATMs in Tura with sufficient cash by Sunday,” claimed the SBI’s AGM.
He however acknowledged that the new Rs 500 currency is yet to arrive in the north eastern region indicating that people would have to make do with the higher denomination of Rs 2000 or a limited amount of Rs 100 notes.
In Shillong, SBI officials informed that the ATMs would have Rs 100 and Rs 50 notes and all efforts are being made to provide uninterrupted service to the people.
In Tura and Williamnagar, most of the shops and other business establishments remained closed on Friday due to the crisis. Even public transport, particularly auto-rickshaws were just a handful operating in the two towns.